Colleen Massengale, Administrative Assistant
Email: cmasseng(at)ucsc.edu
Colleen Massengale is the administrative assistant for the Science & Justice Research Center and the department assistant for the Sociology Department at UC Santa Cruz. She holds a BA in Sociology with a concentration in Intercultural and Interpersonal Relations as well as a BA in Dance with a concentration in History and Theory from the University of California, Riverside (2002). Colleen is a freelance dancer, choreographer, production manager, and theatre technologist. Prior to joining UC Santa Cruz, Colleen worked for the Sheriff’s Department as a correctional assistant working as a liaison between county and state correctional facilities and Superior Courts of Riverside County. Previously, Colleen taught 9th, 10th and 11th grade conversational English at Xin Huaizhong (Huai’an High School) in China’s Jiangsu province.
Graduate Student Researchers
Our Graduate Student Researchers provide support with our events, assist with envisioning and documenting the growth of our program, and assist with supervision of our artists in residence and undergraduate research assistants.
Past Graduate Student Researchers
Undergraduate Researchers and Interns
Emily Caramelli
Emily Caramelli is an undergraduate researcher studying the reality of Medi-Cal and lived experiences across people living with HIV and/or mental illness, as well as the social construction of disease, the pharmaceutical industry, and the U.S. healthcare system. Emily is currently working towards a degree in Sociology with a minor in Politics at UCSC and is interested in sustainable public policy, ethics of healthcare and medicine, and combating police brutality. With a degree in Sociology, Emily hopes to address the future of sustainable development, environmental health, and social justice through research. As an undergraduate, she has become part of the Everett program, the Cantu Queer Center, and the Science and Justice Research Center. In her free time, she enjoys self-expression and art through different mediums. She participates in nature, fashion, and artistic photography and aspires to pursue photography in her future. She also dances, watercolors, writes, and enjoys hiking. She grew up in the San Fernando Valley and has lived in Santa Cruz for three years.
Laura Lopez
Laura Lopez is a senior sociology major who has been studying the history of eugenics in the 20th century since spring 2016. Her research has extended from the history of eugenics in California state mental hospitals to modern, possibly-eugenic technologies. This includes examining how "minorities," women, and, individuals with disabilities are being affected by genetic technologies; exploring online disability community activism; and mapping sites of the eugenic past, establishments that aid and empower people with disabilities, and infrastructures on San Francisco's 3rd Street.